


Baptism of Lumi

by Vinushuka



Series: Apocalyptica on the move [1]
Category: Apocalyptica (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-05-31 17:56:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19431142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinushuka/pseuds/Vinushuka
Summary: Lumi's baptizing ceremony is arranged at Anna's house at the beginning of July 2015. She will be baptized by Mikael with Kirsi and Eicca as godparents. Anna invites to the ceremony her friend Patrik Stranden, who is slowly recovering from his memory loss. Patrik's encounter with his ex boyfriends Mikael and Eicca may have unforeseen consequences because he happens to recover all his memories during the celebration.





	1. The invitation

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go again! New adventures with Apocalypica and their loved ones start from where we left them at Midsummer 2015. I hope you will enjoy the new stories.

## The invitation

I received a surprise call from Patrik shortly after our Midsummer holiday at Iniö. His boyfriend Naoki had told him that we were going to have Lumi’s baptizing ceremony at the beginning of July. Soon after hearing the news Patrik suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be the godfather. Naoki assured him that Eicca and Kirsi were going to be the godparents but the matter bothered him so much that he decided to ask me about it.

“So please tell me if you asked me to be the godfather or am I just going crazy?”

“No, you’re not going crazy. I did ask you but then you vanished from my life and didn’t remember anything about our past. I thought it would be wisest to ask Eicca and Kirsi to be the godparents”, I explained feeling embarrassed. It must have been horrible to forget everything and then begin to doubt your sanity, when the memories started coming back. And all that because of some stupid age-old rules of guardian angels. Sebastian probably dismissed completely the suffering that their policies were causing to human beings.

“Wow, am I glad to hear that! I thought I was getting schizophrenia or something. Are you saying that all my memories are true? I mean our sex and all that.”

“I believe so. Our love life was quite passionate. Do you remember when we fucked in one of the classrooms at the institute?” I asked forgetting my discretion.

“Yes, I remember that and your water bed and your disbelief, when I told you that I had a boyfriend”, Patrik chuckled.

“Ah, speaking about boyfriends, Mikael is going to baptize Lumi. Would you like to attend the ceremony?” the invitation slipped out my mouth before I had time to consider it properly. “I’m sure Mikael would like to meet you after all this time.”

“Err, I don’t know about that… But I would like to see Lumi baptized. At some stage I was convinced that I was her father.”

“Yeah, I remember how your question shocked me. I hadn’t even considered that possibility”, I admitted.

“Are you prepared to meet Eicca?” I asked a bit hesitantly, when I realized that their meeting might be very painful for both of them.

“I’m sorry, but why should I want to meet Eicca? I hardly know him”, Patrik asked sounding puzzled.

At that moment I realized that Patrik didn’t remember everything. His most painful memory was still lost from him.

“Err, he took your place as godfather so I was just thinking…”

“I don’t mind that. I trust he‘s a good and responsible person, just like me”, Patrik joked.

“Yes, he certainly is”, I agreed relieved that Patrik had missed my slip. “The baptism takes place at my house on Saturday 4th of July at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. You probably remember where I live?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be there. Thanks for the invitation!”


	2. Sauna with Yusuke

## Sauna with Yusuke

I hadn’t expected that talking with Patrik would feel so good again. I had assumed that most of his attraction originated from Sebastian’s presence in him, but now I started to doubt that. The way he said things and laughed, his voice… that was the Patrik I knew and loved, not to speak about his physical appearance, long hair and pearly grey eyes.

Suddenly a painful surge of longing filled my mind. It was the same feeling I had when Sebastian was gone and Patrik’s memories with him. The pain had been excruciating with no hope for relief. It had left a wound in my soul that I wanted to heal somehow. I sat down on my sofa and started to cry my pain like a child.

That’s how Yusuke found me. “What on earth has happened? Why are you crying?” he panicked and sat beside me folding his arm around me.

“I thought I had lost someone for good and now I may have found him again. I just relived the pain that almost killed me at the time”, I sniffled.

“That sounds just like me, when I heard that Miyu might be alive”, Yusuke said thoughtfully.

“Your pain was definitely worse, but yes, there is a resemblance”, I replied trying to calm down. I had no intention to tell Yusuke about the mishaps with my unruly guardian angel Sebastian. He wouldn’t understand…

“Thanks for being so supportive”, I said and caressed Yusuke’s cheek with my fingers.

Yusuke gave me a kiss on the forehead and headed to the kitchen to bring me a glass of juice. Yusuke didn’t live permanently with me but he had keys to my house. We had agreed that he would come to my place straight from work that day and prepare a Japanese style dinner for us. He was an excellent cook so I rather left cooking for him whenever possible.

When we were sitting at the dinner table, Yusuke returned to my crying fit: “Can I ask of whom we were talking about when you said you had lost someone?” 

“Yeah, sure. He was my study mate and best friend Patrik. I got acquainted with him slightly before I started working for Apocalyptica. Our relationship was a bit complicated because he was gay. Anyways he suddenly lost his memory and I was shut out his life practically without any warning. I had asked him to be Lumi’s godfather and now, all of a sudden, he remembered that.”

“So he’s getting his memory back?” Yusuke asked.

“Yes, it looks like that and he’s terribly confused. He was thinking that he’s going mad and called me to find out if his memories were true. I invited him to Lumi’s baptizing ceremony and he promised to come. Mikael was his boyfriend before we met at the institute”, I told to Yusuke.

“Isn’t it a bit risky to have him come?”

“Well yes, but I just wanted to see him. I lost my best friend and now I have a chance to win him back. It’s very important to me.”

“I understand. I just hope everything goes well”, Yusuke said and reached out his hand across the table. “Now that we have a day off, why don’t we heat up sauna and enjoy a bath.”

I had surrendered Lumi to Perttu’s and Johanna’s care for the whole day so that I could make preparations for the baptizing ceremony. Perttu was keen to spend time with his first born daughter and I had absolutely nothing against it.

“Sauna would be nice. I’m a bit sweaty after cleaning up the house all day.”

“Your new stove heats up fast so we can have our bath in about an hour if I go down and get the fire going right away”, Yusuke enthused. He had become a real sauna enthusiast after our bathing marathon during Midsummer. Our sauna masters Mikko and Paavo had taught him well. I had got fed up with my old and slow sauna stove and had it replaced with a new one at the beginning of June. Now Yusuke was eager to use his newly acquired skills to heat it.

I started to prepare a dessert while Yusuke was downstairs heating up the sauna. My thoughts strayed again to Patrik and our strange relationship. After seeing Sebastian work through Mikael it was obvious that Mikael’s sexual preferences were affected by Sebastian’s presence in him, even to the extent that Mikko noticed the difference. The same might have happened with Patrik; he was gay but not with Sebastian there. That would explain the sexual attraction between us, but of course now the situation would be different. He would probably have no interest in me anymore, which was kind of sad. It would be difficult to forget the fiery passion and settle for friendship only. That was certainly better than nothing but….

Yusuke surprised me by sneaking quietly behind my back and grabbing me from behind while I was whisking the cream for our crepes.

“Jeez, I love the hum of the fire in the stove. I could sit there forever dreaming about us living in Japan with our daughters”, Yusuke mumbled into my ear.

“I love the sound of the fire too”, I replied but avoided commenting his dreams. I too wanted to spend some time in Japan but I wasn’t ready to move in there permanently. Our daughters should be able to enjoy the same rights and career possibilities as their male counterparts and that was not possible in Japan even if they were going to the right direction.

“Sauna will be ready in about half an hour… and your crepes look delicious… ”, Yusuke whispered and nibbled gently my earlobe. Did I sense something brewing up between us?

The strawberry filled crepes vanished quickly from our plates into the confines of our bellies and Yusuke headed out to make some sauna whisks now that the birch leaves were at their best. Sauna whisk making was one of the skills Paavo and Mikko had taught Yusuke during Midsummer.

The almost intoxicating fragrance of birch leaves filled the hot room air when we treated each other’s backs with the whisks Yusuke had made. Sometimes luxury lies in simple things and this was certainly one of those cases. All my pain and guilt vanished into the steamy silence of our sauna filled only with the hum of fire and sizzle of water on the stove. I just couldn’t wait for the night with my samurai warrior.


	3. The baptizing ceremony

## The baptizing ceremony

I must admit that I had butterflies in my belly when our guests started to arrive at my house to participate in Lumi’s baptizing ceremony. The party of people invited was small because of the space restrictions of our house. Luckily the weather was sunny and warm and we could use the garden as extended living room.

Eicca arrived first with Kirsi and after that Mikko with Mikael. Perttu had invited his parents and of course Johanna. I was getting nervous when Patrik didn’t show up as he had promised. Finally I saw his black Audi being parked on my curb. I hurried to open the door for him and was dazzled almost speechless when I saw him at my doorstep. Tears of relief filled my eyes when I gave him a warm welcoming hug. He was stunning in his light grey suit his hair flowing free.

“So nice to see you again, welcome!” I spluttered trying to hide how deeply moved I was.

“Thanks for inviting me”, Patrik replied and gazed me keenly with his grey eyes. “You look flourishing even without Lumi in your belly”, Patrik snickered making me blush. He remembered…

I took him by the hand and lead him to our living room now filled with people and their lively chatter. Perttu was holding Lumi in his arms so I lead Patrik first to him. “Please meet Perttu the father and Lumi our daughter, I introduced him to my loved ones. I of course new that Patrik had met Perttu at least twice but I wasn’t sure if he remembered anything about it.

“Ah, it’s been a while. Nice to see you again, Patrik”, Perttu said sounding sincere. Patrik smiled at him looking a bit confused, but he didn’t comment Perttu’s words. 

“Hi Lumi, you’re a real princess”, Patrik mumbled and stroke her little cheek with his finger. Lumi flashed her bluish grey eyes wide open and tried to grab Patrik’s finger with her little hand. Patrik let her do so and smiled at me triumphantly. “I think she remembers my voice.”

“I bet she does. We talked a lot together both in Finnish and Japanese before her birth”, I commented and glanced carefully around to see where Eicca was. He was standing with his wife their backs towards us talking to Perttu’s parents. I decided to take the bull by the horns and lead Patrik to meet them next.

I noticed Eicca’s shock when he saw Patrik standing in front of him but Patrik didn’t react in any way.

“Patrik is my long term friend. Please meet Eicca and Kirsi, the godparents.” I introduced them formally.

Patrik shook hands with them as if he met them for the first time. I could see the confusion on Eicca’s face when he realized that the story of the memory loss was true. Kirsi gave Patrik a very warm smile probably appreciating the glorious male beauty in front of her.

Mikael had been preparing for the baptism in my study but he entered the room in his pastor costume just when we were talking with Eicca and Kirsi. He stopped dead clutching the bible in his hand trying to gain control of his feelings. Then he took a deep breath and walked over to us. 

“Nice to meet you again, Patrik. It’s been a terribly long time since we last saw each other”, Mikael said and offered his hand to Patrik. That moment made my heart beat faster. Patrik’s reaction would be pivotal to their future.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time indeed”, Patrik said and gave a warm smile to Mikael while shaking his hand. The tone of his word was welcoming and friendly, no sign of bitterness or anger.

The baptism started with an opening hymn, invocation and greeting, introductory words and a psalm. My heart started to beat faster when it was time to answer to Mikael’s questions.

“Parents, what is the name you have given to this child?”

Perttu stated the name we had decided together with Yusuke: “Lumi Airi”

“As her parent, do you want to have her baptized into the Christian faith?”

“I do”, I replied in unison with Perttu.

“Parents and godparents, do you, together with the congregation, want to make sure that Lumi Airi will be brought up in the Christian faith?”

“I do”, we replied in unison with Eicca and Kirsi.

After marking Lumi’s forehead and chest with signs of the cross, Mikael called us to pray.

I couldn’t concentrate properly on praying so instead I watched people attending the ceremony. I guess Perttu couldn’t concentrate either because he kept fidgeting with Lumi’s baptismal dress and caressed her cheek now and then to keep her happy and quiet. Yusuke too kept a keen eye on Lumi. I guess he was already getting oriented to his stepfather’s role.

We had asked Yusuke to figure out a Japanese second name for Lumi because it would be handy while living in Japan. Yusuke had discussed the name candidates with Mikael during Midsummer and then with us and we had been unanimous about the name selection. Lumi’s second name Airi was one of the few Japanese names that was a girl’s name in Finnish too. The connotations of love and affection were very appropriate for Lumi.

Perttu handed Lumi to Kirsi and Eicca when the time of baptism was at hand. Kirsi held her while Mikael poured water on her head three times and said: “Lumi Airi”, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

After that he laid his hand on top of Lumi’s head together with us parents and godparents.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you. Amen.”

When it was time for Mikael to take Lumi into his arms, I happened to glance at Patrik. I think I saw tears in his eyes when he watched Mikael holding my child. I really hoped that they could finally put their old dispute behind them and start their friendship anew. Mikael would need a friend like Patrik if he was planning to continue his relationship with Mikko.

The ceremony ended in a hymn and after that Mikael handed us the certificate of baptism and a certificate to the godparents. He also invited us to the Sunday service in which the baptism would be announced. I hadn’t thought that the birth and baptism of our daughter would be a public matter in our congregation. I hoped that the announcement would go unnoticed from the press. I didn’t want screaming headlines about Perttu having a child with his assistant just before he was going to marry someone else.

The atmosphere in our living room turned from solemn to light-hearted after the official part of the ceremony was over and it was time to have some cake and coffee. I was taken by surprise, when Patrik suddenly stepped over and asked Perttu if he could hold Lumi for a while. I remembered well the moment of disappointment when I had to tell Patrik that the DNA-test had confirmed that Perttu was the father, not he. At that point of time he had stoically admitted his defeat but maybe there was still a small part of him that wished otherwise.

I was even more surprised when Eicca joined us with his coffee cup. “I’ve heard that you had a bad case of amnesia during last spring. I hope you’re feeling better already.”

“I think so. I remembered a while ago that I was supposed to be Lumi’s godfather but there might be still bits and pieces missing from my memories”, Patrik replied frowning his forehead lightly.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel that well”, he suddenly said turning pale.

“You can go and lie down in my study if you like”, I proposed and offered to take Lumi from him. I handed her back to Perttu, took Patrik by the arm and lead him to my study, where I had a spare bed. I made him sit on the bed and closed the door behind us.

Patrik sat on the bed holding his head without saying a word. I started to feel worried when his silence continued and continued.

“Do you have a headache or are you feeling dizzy?” I asked feeling panic creeping into my mind.

“I just had this glimpse of me and Eicca… We were lovers, weren’t we?” Patrik asked sounding pained.

“Yes, you were lovers and you left Eicca because you couldn’t take anymore the constant pain of longing for him. That was a very brave and wise decision. I hope you’re not having second thoughts about it.”

“Why didn’t you warn me about this beforehand?” Patrik asked after a short silence.

“I don’t know how these amnesia things work so I thought it would be best to let you remember by yourself… and spare you from the pain at least for a while longer”, I explained my decision with mixed feelings.

“I really appreciate your help”, Patrik finally said and pulled me to sit down beside him. He didn’t let go of my hand and I didn’t want him to. “I think you’re the only person whom I can count on when things go wrong. I remember now how you kept me alive when Eicca had left to Nashville for the long recording session. I was devastated and desperate and you forced me to get on with my life. I’m forever grateful for your support.”

I was just trying to figure out what to say to Patrik, when a knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. “Please come in”, I called thinking that it was either Perttu or Yusuke. To my surprise it was Eicca who entered the room.

“I’m sorry, but is there anything I can do to help?” he asked looking deeply worried.

“I just remembered what happened between you and me and realized that I would have been better off without those memories”, Patrik replied to Eicca. “I think I will manage now and will stick to my decision, but I appreciate your concern”, he continued and stood up from the bed. “I think I need a cup of strong coffee now.” 

When I was pouring a cup of coffee for Patrik in the living room, Mikael tugged my sleeve: “Can I borrow your study for a while? I would like to have a word with Patrik in private.”

“Yes of course”, I promised and glanced at Patrik beside me to see if Mikael’s proposal was okay for him. When he didn’t seem to mind, I gave the cup to him and the guys headed to my study closing the door behind him. I couldn’t help watching the pained expression on Mikko’s face when his mate vanished from sight together with his ex-boyfriend. I could sense their relationship had come to a turning point.


End file.
